China has a new richest man in 44-year-old e-commerce tycoon Colin Huang, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Huang, a former Google engineer, is now estimated to have a net worth of $48.7 billion, making him the wealthiest person in China and 25th richest in the world.
Huang made his billions through PDD Holdings Inc., the parent company of retail platforms such as the Temu marketplace. In May, PDD's market capitalization overtook Alibaba's, ending that company's long reign as China's top e-commerce giant.
Chicago-based financial-services provider Morningstar that month predicted Temu's profits would rise faster than anticipated on the back of the firm's half consignment business model, which sees the platform's merchants handle logistical costs.
Another notable PDD success is Pinduoduo, an online retailer with a focus on agricultural goods. The platform is known for its bargains and a feature that allows users to team up to secure lower prices on purchases.
Huang's wealth peaked at over $71 billion in 2021, only to plummet by 87 percent over the next year amid Chinese President Xi Jinping's crackdown on the country's Big Tech industry. His fortunes have since again reversed as China's slowing economy encourages thriftiness among consumers.
"Ma and Jeff Bezos have been corporate leaders in their moments, but the times have changed and Huang is seeing great success with a different, less visible approach," Brock Silvers, managing director at private equity firm Kaiyuan Capital, told Bloomberg.
Newsweek reached out to PDD Holdings for comment.
Tesla founder Elon Musk, with a net worth of $229 billion, occupies the top spot on the list, where he has remained since May after briefly being overtaken earlier by the current No. 2, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($190 billion).
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and French luxury goods mogul Bernard Arnault effectively tie for third with $184 billion each.
Coming in just behind Huang is another Chinese billionaire, Zhong Shanshan, who had occupied China's top slot since 2021. Zhong chairs the Hangzhou-headquartered Nongfu Spring bottled water and soft beverage company.
Jack Ma, the flamboyant former chairman of Alibaba and himself once China's richest person, is now China's fifth and the world's 49th richest person with $32.3 billion.
China boasts the second-largest number of billionaires in the world with a total of 406—half as many as the United States, according to Forbes's annual list released in April. India and Germany come in third and fourth on that list with 200 and 132 billionaires, respectively.
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